Audrey O’Hagan and Carmel Quinn made history for Fintona Golf Club as the pair combined to secure the Tyrone club’s first ever Australian Spoons All-Ireland title.
For the fourth year in succession, County Longford played host to the Australian Spoons final, with 32 pairings from across the island teeing it up under a shotgun start, all looking to claim the title, first contested almost 60 years ago.
Starting from the ninth tee, the Fintona duo made a solid start, carding 15 points across their opening eight holes.
However, it would be on the 17th, their ninth hole, where they made their move to the front, carding a net eagle to see them turn for home with 19 points.
The Tyrone pair continued their impressive run over the closing holes, adding three net birdies on 2, 4 and 6 before bouncing back from a scratch on 7 to card a closing net par to finish with a winning total of 38 points.
“We’re absolutely delighted,” said Quinn.
“Just over the moon that we’re bringing the Australian Spoons back to Fintona, we know it’s a great achievement.
“As a team we played well throughout the 18 holes. Most of the drives maybe were mine, but Audrey was super with the second shot, and we played well together as a team.”
“It’s super for the club and we’re delighted,” said O’Hagan.
“We came down a few weeks ago and had a practice round so we knew the pitfalls of the course, we knew some of the challenging holes that were ahead of us, so it was well worth the trip.”
The victory capped a memorable day for the Fintona pair, who held their nerve to secure the title, finishing two points clear of Cork duo Ann Daly and Claire Coughlan.
Daly and Coughlan would not go home empty handed however, as the pair secured the Gross prize. A three over par round of 76 saw them finish one clear of Esme Murphy and Leonie Colgan (Newlands) in second.
View the final scores here
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